Spring 2025 - Daedalus - Current Issue

Multi-Perspectivity & Ethical Representation in the Context of Gaza & October 7: Addressing the Semantic Void 

We are extremely happy and incredibly proud to share with you this joint article with Lilian Mauthofer and Jannis Grimm on "Multi-Perspectivity & Ethical Representation in the Context of Gaza & October 7: Addressing the Semantic Void" which has just been published by DAEDALUS - the official journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, in a special issue on "The Ethics of Social Research: Perspectives from the Study of the Middle East and North Africa" 

Abstract

The language that researchers use to describe the increasingly violent reality in Gaza has become a contested space. Analytical terms like “genocide,” “self-defense,” “terrorism,” and “resistance,” while not inherently normative, have become tests of political loyalty. This reflects a broader struggle over the dominant narrative, particularly evident in Germany, where semantic disputes have hindered scholars’ ability to contribute meaningful analysis to public debates. Amid shrinking spaces for critical inquiry, we highlight the responsibility of scholars to counteract the expanding semantic void surrounding the Gaza war and the events of October 7 by advocating for an ethical representation of violence that honors the experiences of those affected. This responsibility rests on two foundations: 1) academic integrity, which requires naming, explaining, and contextualizing violent phenomena independent of political agendas, and 2) an ethical commitment to convey the lifeworld of research partners in terms of the meanings they attribute to it, without applying linguistic filters that distort these meanings.

The full article can be read here: https://www.amacad.org/daedalus/multi-perspectivity-ethical-representation-context-gaza-october-7-addressing-semantic-void

Like all the other contributions, among others by Lisa Anderson, Ellen Lust, Richard A. Nielsen, Sara Ababneh, Sarah Parkinson, Cathrine Brun, Marc Owen Jones, Rabab El-Mahdi, Lila Abu-Lughod, Samer Atallah, Dina Toukan, Sari Hanafi, the article is available open access! 

You can read through the abstracts here: https://www.amacad.org/daedalus/ethics-social-research-perspectives-study-middle-east-and-north-africa

The full issue as a PDF is accessible here: https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/publication/downloads/daedalus_sp25_the_ethics_of_social_research_middle_east_north_africa.pdf